Students’ Unions and Religion and Belief Societies
Inter Faith Week is a fantastic platform for encouraging understanding and cooperation between students of different religious and non-religious backgrounds
Each year, Students’ Unions and student-led societies play a hugely important part in Inter Faith Week, marking it in a wide variety of creative ways.
Below are some ideas for Inter Faith Week. These draw on successful activities held by Student Unions and Religion and Belief societies in recent times. Most can be adapted, if needed, to be fully or partly virtual.
- Share images, quotes or videos linked to a different faith or belief each day on social media during the Week – make sure to use the #InterFaithWeek hashtag!
- Support student faith and belief societies in hosting events. This might involve grants for events, providing a space, or just giving them some encouragement!
- Host a discussion or Q&A featuring faith perspectives on different issues, such as climate action, mental health, or racial justice.
- Host a ‘speed faithing’ event.
- Arrange an ‘Inter Faith Week Buddies’ programme, in which two students from different faiths or beliefs pair up for dialogue.
- Arrange a walking trail, visiting local places of worship and engaging with local faith communities.
- Organise social action or volunteering activities that highlight important issues and/or make a difference to your local community. You may be interested in organising a volunteering activity that also marks Mitzvah Day, which takes place on the last day of Inter Faith Week.
- Organise an Inter Faith Week competition, inviting students to create art, photography, poetry or writing on the themes of faith or inter faith.
- Curate a ‘faith and belief festival’, featuring examples of music, dance, arts and design from different faith communities on campus.
- Work with your Chaplaincy to introduce the idea of a student inter faith council or network with representatives from each of the faith societies
Tips and guidance on holding inter faith activities, including guidance for hosting dialogue sessions, can be found in Let's Talk: Practical pointers for inter faith dialogue and Connect: a youth inter faith action guide, both published by the Inter Faith Network for the UK, which leads Inter Faith Week.
Photo 1: Inter Faith Panel at Cardiff University in 2021
Photo 2: Durham University Interfaith Student Network’s Inter Faith Week celebrations 2021
Published 8 August 2022